My husband really enjoyed viewing this and other videos at His father worked as an inspector with the railroads so he would travel all over the Northwest to make sure that the switching mechanism worked and that the tracks were in working order.

.Steam powered locomotives occupy an untouchable category of world history..The men who operated them had a deep personal involvement that evoked a kind of mystique and romanticism; it's as though they felt or thought the engines were alive. For operating them was a way of life. Very labor intensive..The preparation of a steam engine for operation involves over an hour of stoking the furnace and doing the rounds of lubrication of key parts. You don't just hop on board, flip a switch and hit the road; you have to go through a long list of essential tasks or else big problems..There was a deeply seated fascination and admiration with trains before WWII that continued to live in the hearts of train lovers long after the war ended..But when steam locomotives were quietly taken away during the war, these train fans were faced with transferring their admiration to diesel engines..Then before they could get used to this sudden change they were faced with the advent of electric trains. .When the model railroad industry exploded, it gave train fans a whole world of small-scale fantasy where they could materialize their passions. Model trains that are actually practical run on electricity, not diesel or steam. .Finally, the design that would endure for many decades emerged: diesel-powered electric generators that drive electric motors which turn the wheels..Curiously, this technology was first developed for submarines, the first use of diesel to charge batteries at the surface (where there is air for the engines), where the electric drive motors are powered by diesel-driven generators (bypassing the batteries); but then when the vessel submerges (where there is no air to run the diesel engines, except that which has been compressed while surfaced, but the crew needs that air to breathe, too) it switches over to battery power, which necessarily means there is only a short time of mobility left before the vessel has to surface for more air, etc. Trains don't have to contend with being submerged without access to air to run diesel engines..As if that isn't enough change to upset the sentimentality of steam powered train enthusiasts, just when the train industry was changing over to diesel-powered electric motor drives, submarines were transforming their motor drive system to nuclear power. For with that new principle, the need to surface suddenly was removed, allowing vessels the capacity to remain submerged continuously for literally months at a time..And close on the tails of nuclear submarines came the space race and the ongoing threat of nuclear war. Then came the Internet........Throughout all this change, the physical reality of steam-powered locomotives remains unchanged, frozen in time, a thing that works. It works today just as it worked in its own day, which for most everyone alive today, was before our time. .In regards to CI, when trains were all driven by steam engines the Mass remained untouched, and the Church was in full prominence. Then when nuclear powered submarines emerged and trains went to electric drive powered by diesel, that's when Vatican II spewed changes..There is a shrinking number of our people alive today who remember the time when steam powered locomotives were in everyday use..It's very interesting to see what they have to say, when you gather a group together standing at the station, watching an approaching steam engine..Make that a cold morning, before full light of day, with the clouds of steam swirling about the engine as it approaches, breathing and puffing..Listen to what those old-timers have to say, because this experience will bring back memories you might never hear them express otherwise. .Then go out to breakfast after the train leaves, and continue to listen, because there will be plenty to listen for.

.Steam powered locomotives occupy an untouchable category of world history..The men who operated them had a deep personal involvement that evoked a kind of mystique and romanticism; it's as though they felt or thought the engines were alive. For operating them was a way of life. Very labor intensive..The preparation of a steam engine for operation involves over an hour of stoking the furnace and doing the rounds of lubrication of key parts. You don't just hop on board, flip a switch and hit the road; you have to go through a long list of essential tasks or else big problems..There was a deeply seated fascination and admiration with trains before WWII that continued to live in the hearts of train lovers long after the war ended..But when steam locomotives were quietly taken away during the war, these train fans were faced with transferring their admiration to diesel engines..Then before they could get used to this sudden change they were faced with the advent of electric trains. .When the model railroad industry exploded, it gave train fans a whole world of small-scale fantasy where they could materialize their passions. Model trains that are actually practical run on electricity, not diesel or steam. .Finally, the design that would endure for many decades emerged: diesel-powered electric generators that drive electric motors which turn the wheels..Curiously, this technology was first developed for submarines, the first use of diesel to charge batteries at the surface (where there is air for the engines), where the electric drive motors are powered by diesel-driven generators (bypassing the batteries); but then when the vessel submerges (where there is no air to run the diesel engines, except that which has been compressed while surfaced, but the crew needs that air to breathe, too) it switches over to battery power, which necessarily means there is only a short time of mobility left before the vessel has to surface for more air, etc. Trains don't have to contend with being submerged without access to air to run diesel engines..As if that isn't enough change to upset the sentimentality of steam powered train enthusiasts, just when the train industry was changing over to diesel-powered electric motor drives, submarines were transforming their motor drive system to nuclear power. For with that new principle, the need to surface suddenly was removed, allowing vessels the capacity to remain submerged continuously for literally months at a time..And close on the tails of nuclear submarines came the space race and the ongoing threat of nuclear war. Then came the Internet........Throughout all this change, the physical reality of steam-powered locomotives remains unchanged, frozen in time, a thing that works. It works today just as it worked in its own day, which for most everyone alive today, was before our time. .In regards to CI, when trains were all driven by steam engines the Mass remained untouched, and the Church was in full prominence. Then when nuclear powered submarines emerged and trains went to electric drive powered by diesel, that's when Vatican II spewed changes..There is a shrinking number of our people alive today who remember the time when steam powered locomotives were in everyday use..It's very interesting to see what they have to say, when you gather a group together standing at the station, watching an approaching steam engine..Make that a cold morning, before full light of day, with the clouds of steam swirling about the engine as it approaches, breathing and puffing..Listen to what those old-timers have to say, because this experience will bring back memories you might never hear them express otherwise. .Then go out to breakfast after the train leaves, and continue to listen, because there will be plenty to listen for.

.Hello Neal, This is Ken, Maria's husband..Wow!!! You really touched me deeply, as I am one of those that experienced the "steam era" before it was replaced by diesel electrics. Living in Seattle, Wa. my father worked for the Northern Pacific in the Ballard maintenance and switch yards. Seattle was and still is the terminus point of far east traffic of the US. He worked there from the early 20's until 1937, when he went to work in his trained field of electricity, motors, and power generation with Cascade Machinery as WWII ramped up. I remember seeing those great old "chuffer n, puffers," as I called them then as a kid. Later, in my broadcasting career, working with my compatriots, their fathers also worked for the NP. One, Stan Healy's father was a conductor. He was in the Northern Idaho/Montana fire of 1910, barely made it through that one. What a history!.Another anecdote, historically, out of the "steam era", comes many related stories. I have been involved in, besides electronics and communications, broadcasting engineering, automobile repair and restoration. The connection from the late 1800's comes to mind. Walter P. Chrysler who was born in 1875 was a brilliant engineer and entrepreneur. He learned his skills as a young man trained in railroad engineering. You can find the story archived by Hemmings Motor News on their site. He became fascinated with automobiles as they came about in his teens. His training and skills as a proficient machinist and engineer as well as extra-ordinary management expertise made Chrysler Corp. a rock-solid producer of well-engineered products in those early years of the automobile..By the way, we had "full electrics" in the northwest also with the Milwaukee Road, they were powered by the abundance of hydro-power and ran on double overhead 3,300 volt 25 cycle AC lines. I don't know if they are still in operation..Keep up the work and documentation, you did great. Ken

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